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Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived) / Convert Activity Conta...
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Convert Activity Contact to Activity User

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Posted on by Paul Martin

CRM 2016: We added all our Users also as Contacts so that the user information would synchronize with Outlook and, subsequently, to all flavors of smart phones through ActiveSync (or similar).  Now, we need to report all the User activities, but some of the activities use the Contact type and record and others use the User type and record.  For instance, when setting an Appointment that includes colleagues as required attendees, sometimes the User record is recorded and other times a Contact record is recorded.  This is especially difficult when the Appointment is created and tracked in Outlook.

How do we convert Contacts in an appointment to Users in almost real-time?

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  • Paul Martin Profile Picture
    Paul Martin on at
    RE: Convert Activity Contact to Activity User

    That’s a very interesting approach, Alex.  Let me ponder it …

  • ashlega Profile Picture
    ashlega 34,475 on at
    RE: Convert Activity Contact to Activity User

    Hi Paul,

     it just occurred to me that you might have a workflow/plugin to add users to those appointments where you only have contacts (rather than to replace them). That's, probably, relatively straightforward in terms of development and will be less confusing for the sync (since you won't be changing the appointments, just "extending" them). Still that means you'll need to develop that code.

  • Paul Martin Profile Picture
    Paul Martin on at
    RE: Convert Activity Contact to Activity User

    Thanks, Alex.  More details: We're a professional services firm.  Our consultants use smartphones and tablets a lot.  We do not use the CRM smartphone apps at this time for a host of reasons.  We must: 1) report all activity for each consultant, and 2) have all our consultants display in Outlook's contacts.  We currently have created a CRM Contact for each user so that we can sync with Outlook contacts.  Unfortunately, when booking appointments with required attendees (using Outlook), CRM will find the Contact and not the User for the same email address.  My desire is to have a workflow or plugin that sees the Contact that is linked to a User and changes the Activity Party so that the reports show all the activity when filtered by User.

    Any ideas on where to turn?

  • Suggested answer
    ashlega Profile Picture
    ashlega 34,475 on at
    RE: Convert Activity Contact to Activity User

    Hi Paul,

     I can't think of anything simple here, especially since outlook sync is involved..

     What kind of reporting do you need, though? If you had a look-up from contacts to users, you might link contact records to their respective user records. Then you might likely build views to display appointments which are linked to a particular user directly or indirectly through a related contact.

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